Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 12-06-06

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Greece, China mark 40th anniversary of bilateral relations

[02] Tsipras: The dilemma is Memorandum or SYRIZA

[03] KKE leader gives interview to AMNA web TV

[04] The Wednesday edition of Athens' dailies

[05] Andreas Christodoulides passes away

[06] Athens Stock Exchange opening: Rise

[07] Greek stocks plunge to lowest levels since Jan. 1990

[01] Greece, China mark 40th anniversary of bilateral relations

President Karolos Papoulias, in a letter addressed to Chinese leader Hu Jintao, underlined that "cooperation between China and Greece has known notable progress since 1972," adding that the two countries have become "strategic partners enjoying strong friendship and economic ties in the economic, political and social sectors." amna

On his part, Greek caretaker Prime Minister Panagiotis Pikrammenos stressed in a letter addressed to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that "this anniversary is a milestone for the Greek government, indicating the level of maturity reached by the Sino-Greek relations forged through long and systematic cooperation in political and economic fields."

In a letter to his Chinese counterpart Jang Jiechi, caretaker Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis expressed optimism for the future of bilateral relations and made a special reference to the present international situation, stressing that "while a lot is at stake, economically speaking, there are many new opportunities that can bring our countries even closer sharing a vision of progress."

[02] Tsipras: The dilemma is Memorandum or SYRIZA

"The only real dilemma in this election is: 'Memorandum or SYRIZA', all women and all men together shall give SYRIZA-EKM a clear and strong power mandate for the immediate annulment of the memorandum and the renegotiating of the unfavourable terms of the loan contract," Tsipras said.

Tsipras said that the pensions of the Greek people are not in danger from SYRIZA-EKM which, "with its government programme, will annul the memorandum and guarantee the dignified living of pensioners."amna

On the question of health, Tsipras said that SYRIZA's programme anticipates the organising of an integrated system of first stage health care with emphasis on prevention and post-hospital care, near the place of residence and work.

[03] KKE leader gives interview to AMNA web TV

Papariga, who also replied to questions put through the twitter and facebook, said among other things that KKE will not give a vote of tolerance to a SYRIZA government from the moment that it does not trust it, while mentioning that "a SYRIZA government hasn't even the radical slogans of PASOK of the decade of the '80s" and added that "SYRIZA will comply 'with the indications' because it does not have a clash policy with the EU and the monopolies."amna

She added that "before us lies the worsening of the crisis in all the eurozone and the possibility of uncontrolled or controlled default that will aggravate the problems, while whatever grants promised by SYRIZA will be crumbs."amna

Papariga also said that KKE will prepare a draft law on the abolition of the memorandum, the loan contract and the antilabour laws in practice and stressed that her party supports Greece's disengagemnt from the EU and the unilateral writeoff of the debt on condition that the people take power and the wealth produced in their hands.

[04] The Wednesday edition of Athens' dailies

The liquidity problem in the state coffers and the burning issue of Spain's economic condition, mostly dominated the headlines on Wednesday in Athens' newspapers.

ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "What we produce, what we import and what we are lacking".

AVGHI: "Memorandum sends us to ER".

AVRIANI: "Troika's collaborators are killing the cancer patients".

ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "SYRIZA's red card on investments".

ESTIA: "Final blow to the economy".

ETHNOS: "Major social security fund (IKA) has no more money to pay for the pensions".

IMERISSIA: "European Central Bank mulling guarantee of bank deposits"

KATHIMERINI: "Spain puts EU in a vortex".

LOGOS: "Interest inflates the deficit".

NAFTEMPORIKI: "Tax revenues black hole getting bigger".

NIKI: "Why we are one step before collapse".

RIZOSPASTIS: "Neither New Democracy (ND) and SYRIZA, nor a coalition government will save the people".

TA NEA: "Spanish SOS - Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy sends dramatic plea".

[05] Andreas Christodoulides passes away

He graduated from the Pancyprian Gymnasium and later studied law in Athens. In 1967 he was obliged to interrupt his university studies due to the dictatorship and to depart Greece.

He worked in the press sector since 1965, beginning with the newspaper "Evdomada" (1965-1966) and then in the United Kingdom with the newspapers "Kosmos" (1972-1973) and "Nea Dimokratia" (1973-1974).

In 1974 Christodoulides returned to Greece and worked for the newspaper "Exormisi", where he was the chief editor (1978-1982) and managing director (1989). He was also a correspondent of the Cypriot newspaper "Ta Nea" (1974-1987).

In 1981 he was appointed as general director of the Athens News Agency, a post he held until 1987, when he was appointed president of state broadcaster ERT SA.

Christodoulides resigned from this post in July 1988 and took over as special secretary at the mass media service of the ministry to the presidency. amna

In 1990 he assumed the management of the Cypriot private radio station "Super FM".

In 1991 he returned to Greece where he served as an adviser at the Tegopoulos media group and was a regular contributor to the Athens daily "Eleftherotypia".

In 1993 he was appointed for the second term as general director of the ANA, where he remained until 2004, overseeing the very successful coverage of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games by Greece's national news agency. amna

He was later appointed as the special adviser of to the ANA general director. amna

In 1989 he was selected by the University of Manchester as a member of the European Institute for the Media.

Christodoulides was a member of the European Forum of Audiovisual Means and a member of the board of the Hellenic Audiovisual Institute (IOM) from its foundation until 2005.

In 2005 he was awarded the Yannos Kranidiotis Award for innovative creation. amna

He attended dozens of international and local conferences, seminars and journalism sessions.

Christodoulides was instrumental in the creation of the Association of Balkan News Agencies and an active member, in his capacity as ANA director, in the European Alliance of News Agencies and the Alliance of Mediterranean News Agencies (AMAN).

Since 1994 he was a lecturer at the Athens University's faculty of communication.

Christodoulides translated and adapted into Greek three university textbooks entitled "The Art of Journalism-1986" and "The Art of Reportage-1992" and "The Art of Television Journalism-2006".

In 2009 he authored the book "International and National News Agencies". amna

Andreas Christodoulides is survived by his wife and a news agency that he took from a 1950s-era mentality and placed squarely in the 21st century.

[06] Athens Stock Exchange opening: Rise

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was up 1.48 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was down 0.24 percent.

Individual sector indices were moving upward, with the biggest gains in Travel and Recreation, up 2.23 percent and Telecoms, up 1.77 percent .

The heaviest losses were in Health, down 4.34 percent and Raw Materials, down 1.67 percent.

Of the stocks traded, 22 were up, 12 were down, and 8 were unchanged.

[07] Greek stocks plunge to lowest levels since Jan. 1990

The composite index dropped 5.09 pct to end at 476.36 points, off the day's lows of 471.35 points. Analysts said the next support levels for the index were the 460 and 445 points. The market's capitalization fell below 20 billion euros, or less than 10 pct of the country's Gross Domestic Product, the lowest ratio in Europe.amna

Turnover was a low 46.406 million euros. The Big Cap index dropped 5.11 pct and the Mid Cap index fell 4.0 pct. The Personal Products (2.60 pct) and Travel (0.92 pct) sectors scored gains, while Banks (9.05 pct), Raw Materials (8.48 pct) and Health (7.57 pct) suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day. Jumbo (2.78 pct), OPAP (1.0 pct), Viohalco (0.63 pct) and Titan (0.48 pct) were top gainers among blue chip stocks, while Eurobank (15.22 pct), Cyprus Bank (9.54 pct), Alpha Bank (8.85 pct) and Mytilineos (8.55 pct) suffered losses. National Bank's share price fell below 1.0 euro per share, while its capitalization fell to 870 million euros.amna

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 90 to 33 with another 15 issues unchanged. Selman (20 pct), Varvaressos (18.64 pct) and Sidma (17.11 pct) were top gainers, while Balkan Real Estate (30 pct), Attikat (20 pct) and Teletypos (20 pct) were top losers.

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